Some might have called it a futile gesture, to leave matters in the hands of faith and religion, but Esperia wasn't a fool. She knew the gods were silent for a reason, and that the only one who could get a prayer answered was the praying person themselves, in the end only they possessed the power to change things if they were willing to take initiative.
But then why... why did she pray? Perhaps it was simply to seek out comfort, to hope her family would pass over peacefully into the hereafter. It was a tradition for her, to wake up a bit before dawn approached and then pray till the sun had risen.
Dawn had just passed when Esperia rose onto her feet and walked out of the church after telling the priest she would be visiting tomorrow as usual.
However, unlike usually she found her attention drawn away from the path leading back to the town, instead finding herself gazing sideways toward the forest that surrounded the church. It was odd how Esperia found herself instinctively drawn toward the forest, a hand brushing against the leafs of bushes and against the hard bark of the trees while she whispered softly. "I'm sure Liana would love this scenery..."
It was a beautiful landscape, there was no denying that, yet why did her thoughts return toward that memory? She still remembered it, the dawn after the raid on the church she lived in had happened. During the night a young girl had found her and tried to reassure her that everything would be alright.
The words felt empty to her, in the end, how could everything end up being alright when she had lost everything? Her home was gone, and so was her family, one could easily say she had truly lost everything.
And yet the girl spoke and acted with such kindness and confidence that she couldn't help but feel drawn in by her, so perhaps it was the promise that followed afterward by the girl that left a bittersweet taste.
Liana had promised that someday when she was old enough that the girl would come to find her and that she would keep her promise of keeping her safe and happy.
It was a promise, a silly one between children but to her, it did hold a lot of importance. "Maybe once I'm done I'll travel to the Woodsea and seek out Liana."
It sounded like a pleasant idea, to find Liana and spend time with her again, and judging from the excited barks that came from her side it seemed Agni agreed with the idea also.
"I wonder how she is doing... it's been five years since then..."